Fence.



E. CRAIG.

FENCE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24, 1907. Y

91 0,459. Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

ELLSWORTH CRAIG, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

FENCE.

Sp ecfcaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1909.

Application led August 24, 1907. Serial No. 389,944.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELLswoRTn CRAIG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Springiield, in the county of Clark and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Fences, of which thefollowing is a s ecilication, reference being had therein to t eaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to fences, partitions and structures of a likecharacter.

The object of the invention is to provide a fence or partition, bothsides of which will present a similar appearance and will be smooth andpleasing to the eye; further, to provide such a fence or partition whichcan be knocked down and transported from place to place and readilyassembled; to provide 4the same with means for protecting the ends offence boards; and to provide improved means for securing the fence railsor supporting members to the posts.

With these objects in view my invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction and in certain parts and combinationshereinafter to be described, and then more particularly pointed out inthe claims.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the fence, takenvertically through one of the posts showing a modified form ofconnection between the rails and one of the,

posts Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view, taken vertically throughone of the fence sections; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a section ofthe fence showing a modified form of theV same;'and Fig. 4 is a detailview of a modified form of connection between the rail and ost.

In these drawings, I have illustrated the preferred form of myinvention, together with certain modifications of the details ofconstruction, but, in each instance, the main features of constructionare the same and the principles involved are not changed. As hereinshown, the fence consists of a series of sections or panels, each ofwhich comprises a top rail 2 and a bottom rail 3, said rails havingtheir lowerand upper edges, respectively, grooved or channeled toreceive the opposite ends of the fence boards 4. These fence rails 2 and3 may be of any suitable material and may be constructed in any desiredmanner, but I prefer to form the same of sheet metal bent intosubstantially U-shape and having their open edges adjacent one to theother and adapted to receive the ends of the fence boards. The rails 2and 3 are preferably provided With internal grooves adapted to form airpassages along the ends of the fence boards and allow the circulation ofair through the same to keep the boards dry and prevent the same fromdecay. These grooves are preferably provided by forming beads in thesheet metal of which the channeled bar is formed, and each channeled baris preferably provided with three beads or grooves, one formed in eachside thereof near the open edge, as shown at 13, and the other formed inthe central portion, thus being located in the closed edge thereof andin alinement with the ends of the boards, as shown at 14. These beads orgrooves are preferably formed in the sheet metal before the same is bentto form the channeled bar and serve to strengthen the same, as well asto form the air passages. The bottom rail 3 may also, if desired, beprovided with suitable outlet apertures to drain off any water which mayaccumulate therein.

The fence rails 2 and 3 may be secured to the posts 5 in' any suitablemanner, but preferably by providing either the post or the rail with aprojection adapted to engage a pa'rt"of the other member, and thus forma coupling for securing the two members together. v The projection maybe carried by either the rail or the post.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, I have shown the projection as carried by therail and adapted to engage a part of the post 5. The proj ection, ashere shown, comprises an L- sha ed member 15 having one arm securedwithin the grooved bar in any suitable manner, and its other arm, whichis preferably the shorter, adapted to extend through an aperture 16 inthe post and engage that portion of the post 5 forming the lower wall ofthe aperture, thus securing the rail firmly to the ost. This form, ifdesired, may be used without the brackets for inclosing the ends of therails and is so shown in Fig. 1, where the post is provided with a capv17 having its edges adapted to extend over the edge of the rail andprovided with a downwardly extending lug or lip 18 adapted to enter theup er end of the post and to be engaged by t e set screw 19 whichextends through the wall of the post.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a slightly modified form of the connection shownin Fig. 1. As here shown, the post is provided on its exterior with alip or lug 20 having an u wardly extending portion 21 adapted to eengaged by a projection 22 which is secured to the fence rail. The lug2O may be secured to the exterior of the ost 5 in any suitable manner,but I have ere shown the same formed separate therefrom and securedthereto by means of a bolt 23. That end of the downwardly extendingprojection 22, which is adjacent to the post 5, is preferably rounded,as shown at 24, thus enabling the projection 24 and the rail to which itis secured to extend at varying angles to the post 5, thereby enablingthe section of fence to be extended up an inclined surface and securedto a vertical post. This is also true, to a greater or less extent, ofthe other construction shown, but in this other construction is limitedby the amount of loose motion which the cou ling members may haverelatively one to tiie other. The fence gaTds4nay be arranged Within thebottom d top rails 3 and 2 in any suitable manner.

I prefer for ordinary constructions the arrangement in which the boardsare placed -with their edges close together to form a tight fence, but,if desired, the fence boards may be spaced some distance apart to forman open or picket fence. Where it is not desirable to extend the boardsthrough the top rail, the same may be spaced apart in any suitablemanner, the same being shown in Fig. 3 as having ornamental spacingblocks 26 placed between the fence boards 4. These spacing blocks arepreferably of sheet metal and may be formed from the scrap left when thetop and bottom rails are constructed. In this Jligure, I have also showna double paneled fence, that is, each section is provided with auxiliaryrails 27 extending longitudinally of the section and preferably parallelto the rails 2 and 3, thus enabling each section of the fence to be madeintwo panels, as shown in Fig. 3, where the lower panel has the fenceboards set edge to edge forming a tight, smooth panel, while the upperpanel has the boards s aced apart by the ornamental spacing bloc rs 26.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided a fence,both sides of which present a similar a pearance, each side being smoothand even or substantially the full height; further, that this fence isof a strong, durable construction and can be knocked down fortransportation and readily set up at any desired point; and that I haveTie similar finished a pearance of both sides of the structure ma es thesame very desirable for use as a partition or screen, and the same maybe of varying heights and the sections of the desired length toaccommodate it to this use. Further, these same qualities adapt thestructure particularly for use as a sign board, the smooth surfacesaffording double the usual amount of sign surface by using both sides ofthe board. Further, the readiness with which the structure may beknocked down and set up make it possible to prepare these signs at theshop,

ainting the signs upon the boards, then mock the same down and transportit to the desired spot, where it can be readily set up with the severalparts in their proper posltion. Other uses for the structure willreadily suggest themselves, and further, I do not desire to be limitedto the exact details of construction shown and described, for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus l'ully described my invention, What I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a structure of the character described, a rail comprising achanneled bar ada ted to receive the ends of u right boards and avingrooves formed in tlhe walls of said channe adjacent to the ends of saidboards and extending transversely thereto, a post, and means forsecuring the end of said rail to said ost. v

p 2. In a structure of the character described, a rail comprising a barhaving a channel therein ada ted to receive the ends of upright boardsand aving a groove in the transverse Wall of said channel, a groove ineach of the side walls thereof, all of said grooves extendingtransversely to the length of said boards, a post, and means forsecuring the end of said rail to said post.

3. In a structure of the character described, a rail comprising a barhaving a channel l therein ada ted to receive the ends of upright boardsand aving a groove in the transverse wall of said channel, said groovehaving an opening therein, a groove in each of the side walls of saidchannel, all of said grooves extending transversely to the length ofsaid boards, a ost, and means for securing the end of said3 rail to saidpost.

4. In a structure of the character described, a rail comprising achanneled bar ada ted to receive the ends'of u right boards and avingrooves formed in t e walls of said channe adjacent to the ends of saidboards and extending transversely thereto, a post, an L- sha ed memberhaving one arm secured in sai channeled bar and the other arm extendandmeans for securing the end of said rail to said post. 10 In testimonywhereof, I aiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ELLSWORTH CRAIG. Witnesses E. O. HAGAN, HARRIET L. HAMMAKER.

